Pixel phones have become pretty customizable thanks to the Pixel Themes app first introduced with Android 10, but there's one part of the Pixel skin that you can't tweak too much — the lock screen. The Android 10 beta suggested that we might get some custom clocks at some point, but when the OS went stable, no traces of alternative clocks were left. That might change with Android 12. It looks like Google will include Pixel-exclusive lock screen clocks.

Left & Middle: New hidden Android 12 lock screen. Right: Hidden clock style picker in Android 10.

XDA discovered that Google introduced an update to the Pixel Themes app (or, more specifically, the underlying "WallpaperPicker" app) with Android 12, and some code has surfaced in it that could be related to custom lock screen clocks. Pixel Themes is getting a new "clock" bottom tab that only shows up when an app with the package name matching the value "clocks_stub_package" is installed, which currently matches an app named "com.google.pixelcustomclocks." That app isn't present on Android 12 developer preview 1 just yet, so there aren't any visuals we can show off. But its name suggests that the custom clocks will be Pixel exclusive, and the app will likely be pre-installed on Pixel phones running Android 12 once it goes stable.

Some of the custom clocks that came as part of Android 10.

Of course, Google could still scrap the custom lock screen plan again, though the upcoming lock screen redesign would be a good opportunity to add customization options.

For more about the Android 12 launch, check out our announcement post detailing what's new here. If you want to install the developer preview on your own device, find out how in our Android 12 download guide.

Source: XDA